Kii announces funding input from Cisco Investments

21 Jan 2016 03:54 PM

Cisco and Kii join forces to bring Kii’s Cloud platform along with innovative IoT solutions to market; Cisco Investments to make an invest in Kii

Kii, a Cloud platform company enabling mobility and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, announced today (21 January 2016) that Cisco Investments, the corporate venture capital arm of Cisco, is making an investment in Kii.

Kii’s global platform enables device manufacturers and IoT solution providers to create connected solutions with new data sources generated from IoT to be integrated into cloud service and analytics-driven application models in a wide range of IoE use cases.

Wi-Fi/mobility data sources stream through the Kii Cloud, and can feed the Cisco mobile experience platform. With those additional data sources, Kii and Cisco can deliver complete data-rich experiences to customers, and create next generation digital experiences and offers over mobility.

“We are thrilled to have Cisco Investments sign on as an investor,” said Masanari Arai, CEO of Kii. “Cisco’s investment will help enable us to introduce our platform and various IoE solutions throughout the world and help us execute on the larger IoE vision.”

“Building compelling mobile and IoE solutions requires a multifaceted effort – and the backend platform is one of the key ingredients,” said Miyuki Suzuki, president and general manager, Cisco Systems G.K. “We believe our investment in Kii will help support the development of a platform that offers the ease of use, features and scalability needed to bring IoE solutions to market rapidly.”

Kii is the second company in Japan to receive a direct investment from Cisco Investments. “Cisco Investments continues to capture innovation in Japan with our investment in Kii,” said Hideaki Yajima, Head of Corporate Development, Japan, Cisco Systems G.K. “Startups expanding into other markets are a key component of Cisco Investments’ strategy globally.”